Across an untried sea : discovering lives hidden in the shadow of convention and time

This volume explores the interlocking circles of female friendships among Victorian women, especially those associated with Jane Welsh Carlyle and Charlotte Cushman. Cushman was the most acclaimed actress in America and England in her day, and Carlyle, wife of Thomas Carlyle, is remembered for her volumes of letters. Both women attracted and supported other artistic and literary women, notably, in Cushman's case, the young American sculptors Harriet Hosmer and Emma Stebbins. Many of these independent women challenged conventional roles and society in their professional and private lives, from writers and poets to sculptors and social reformers. They were celebrated in their day, but forgotten in modern times.

Retrieves the lives of Victorian women--writers, actresses, poets, journalists, sculptors, and social reformers--celebrated in their day but forgotten in ours. Focuses in particular on the American Charlotte Cushman, the most famous English-speaking actress of her day, and on the Scottish Jane Welsh Carlyle, a brilliant London hostess who gave up private ambition to become the wife of her friend Thomas Carlyle, a difficult, demanding man with whom she had a sexless marriage. Cushman became an international star on the New York and London stage, and her Romeo and Hamlet were sensations. An independent woman with shrewd business sense who made her own fortune and supported her entire family, she dressed like a man from the waist up and had a succession of female lovers, each one of whom she planned to live with for life, each of whom she 'married.' Interweaving the worlds of expatriate Rome, literary London, New York, and St. Louis, Markus gathers together a number of interrelated and renowned women who were relegated in the public eye to the position of Virgin Queen (no matter how much married) or Old Maid, but who were, in fact, privately leading vibrant, independent, sexual lives.--From publisher description.

摘要：

This volume explores the interlocking circles of female friendships among Victorian women, especially those associated with Jane Welsh Carlyle and Charlotte Cushman. Cushman was the most acclaimed actress in America and England in her day, and Carlyle, wife of Thomas Carlyle, is remembered for her volumes of letters. Both women attracted and supported other artistic and literary women, notably, in Cushman's case, the young American sculptors Harriet Hosmer and Emma Stebbins. Many of these independent women challenged conventional roles and society in their professional and private lives, from writers and poets to sculptors and social reformers. They were celebrated in their day, but forgotten in modern times.

Retrieves the lives of Victorian women--writers, actresses, poets, journalists, sculptors, and social reformers--celebrated in their day but forgotten in ours. Focuses in particular on the American Charlotte Cushman, the most famous English-speaking actress of her day, and on the Scottish Jane Welsh Carlyle, a brilliant London hostess who gave up private ambition to become the wife of her friend Thomas Carlyle, a difficult, demanding man with whom she had a sexless marriage. Cushman became an international star on the New York and London stage, and her Romeo and Hamlet were sensations. An independent woman with shrewd business sense who made her own fortune and supported her entire family, she dressed like a man from the waist up and had a succession of female lovers, each one of whom she planned to live with for life, each of whom she 'married.' Interweaving the worlds of expatriate Rome, literary London, New York, and St. Louis, Markus gathers together a number of interrelated and renowned women who were relegated in the public eye to the position of Virgin Queen (no matter how much married) or Old Maid, but who were, in fact, privately leading vibrant, independent, sexual lives.--From publisher description.

"Retrieves the lives of Victorian women--writers, actresses, poets, journalists, sculptors, and social reformers--celebrated in their day but forgotten in ours. Focuses in particular on the American Charlotte Cushman, the most famous English-speaking actress of her day, and on the Scottish Jane Welsh Carlyle, a brilliant London hostess who gave up private ambition to become the wife of her friend Thomas Carlyle, a difficult, demanding man with whom she had a sexless marriage. Cushman became an international star on the New York and London stage, and her Romeo and Hamlet were sensations. An independent woman with shrewd business sense who made her own fortune and supported her entire family, she dressed like a man from the waist up and had a succession of female lovers, each one of whom she planned to live with for life, each of whom she 'married.' Interweaving the worlds of expatriate Rome, literary London, New York, and St. Louis, Markus gathers together a number of interrelated and renowned women who were relegated in the public eye to the position of Virgin Queen (no matter how much married) or Old Maid, but who were, in fact, privately leading vibrant, independent, sexual lives.--From publisher description."@en

"This volume explores the interlocking circles of female friendships among Victorian women, especially those associated with Jane Welsh Carlyle and Charlotte Cushman. Cushman was the most acclaimed actress in America and England in her day, and Carlyle, wife of Thomas Carlyle, is remembered for her volumes of letters. Both women attracted and supported other artistic and literary women, notably, in Cushman's case, the young American sculptors Harriet Hosmer and Emma Stebbins. Many of these independent women challenged conventional roles and society in their professional and private lives, from writers and poets to sculptors and social reformers. They were celebrated in their day, but forgotten in modern times."@en